birthdays and movies
by not a straight trumpet
Summary: The couch, as it turned out, wasn't quite big enough to fit the five of them.


**a/n:** why are all the "couple's gifts ideas" on google images so heteronormative

thank god for wikipedia

* * *

"That's a good choice," Natsuki said before Kumiko had even clicked on the movie.

"I don't even know which one I'm going with yet!"

"Yeah, but I'm supposed to be encouraging, or something like that. It's _your_ birthday, after all."

"What about that one?" Hazuki suggested, pointing to a neon-coated title that had come out some ten years ago.

"I think you're the only one who wants to watch that one, Katou," Natsuki lazily sighed, flopped over on one arm of the couch. "I'll watch it with ya some other day, if you want." Hazuki's eyes lit up.

"Really?"

"Oh, it's textbook romance!" Midori swooned. "Making compromises, mutual pin-"

"I think that one looks nice." Reina sat, cross-legged, on the couch as she curled up next to Kumiko. "What do you think?"

"Y-yeah, why not?" Kumiko clicked on the movie and waited for it to load. Natsuki muttered something about how she was whipped. The couch wasn't really big enough for the five of them - Midori was practically hanging off the edge of it, Hazuki was squished against Natsuki, and the only way that Reina could even fit was by leaning on Kumiko. It wasn't uncomfortable, though, not in the slightest - there was something nice about the arrangement, everyone sitting like this.

"I've heard of this one," Natsuki grunted, without looking up.

"It looks really cute!" Midori squeaked.

"Oh, Kumiko, that reminds me." Reina dug a tiny, neatly-wrapped package from her bag, handing it unceremoniously off to her. "Happy birthday."

"Y-you really didn't have to get me anything," Kumiko mumbled, bashful, as she tore open the paper. "It's . . . a pebble?" Indeed, the present seemed to be nothing more than a smooth little rock with a string tied around it.

"It's a pebble from Mt. Daikichi," Reina explained, tugging down the collar of her shirt to reveal a similar-looking necklace. "That way, we'll always have a part of each other, no matter where we go."

"Reina, that's really sweet." Kumiko kissed her on the cheek. "Thank-"

"That's so romantic!" Midori clasped her hands together, practically vibrating. "I got you something, too! Well, I collaborated on it with Hazuki-chan, but you know."

"We didn't wrap it or anything, but here it is!" Hazuki reached behind the couch to pull something out - Kumiko couldn't see it, for how dark the room was and for how bright the movie was - and promptly placed it on Kumiko's head.

"What is it?"

"Look at it, silly!" Kumiko did as she was told and took the gift off her head, and upon closer inspection she realized it was a goofy-looking Tuba-kun hat, sagging a little to the side as she held it up.

"It's super rare!" Midori squeaked. "We had to keep bidding on it until late hours in the night!"

"I nearly passed out a few times!"

"It's really cute. Thank you." Kumiko put the hat back on her head just as the main character of the movie started to monologue about something or another. "She's cute, too."

"Hey, Kumiko, don't say that right in front of your girlfriend," Natsuki sighed. "Besides, she gets with a creep later on." Kumiko and Reina both looked at her for a moment before she picked up a paper bag with _Kumiko_ written on it in scribbly lettering. "It's not much, but I thought-"

"It's a plush cactus!" Kumiko hugged the stuffed toy, pressing it to her chest. It was soft, so wonderfully soft, and a pair of sewn-on button eyes stared back up at her. "Thanks, Natsuki."

"Eh, don't mention it." Natsuki paused. "That dude looks like an opossum." Hazuki narrowed her eyes, rubbing her chin suspiciously.

"I can't really see it."

"Really?" Natsuki slid closer to her, hand casually resting on her thigh, and Hazuki turned beet-red. Kumiko had to hold back a laugh. "Do you know what an opossum looks like?"

"Uh . . . no," Hazuki admitted. Natsuki snorted.

"Does anyone here have a phone?" Kumiko pried hers from between the cushions, passing it off to Natsuki, who typed _opossum_ with startling speed. Hazuki peered at it, leaning so close to Natsuki that if they'd gotten any closer they would just be cuddling.

"The opossum is a marsupial of the order Didelphimorphia endemic to the Americas. The largest order of marsupials in the Western Hemisphere, it comprises 103 or more species . . . okay, I think I kinda see it now."

"See?" Natsuki flipped her hair with a definitive sniff, causing Hazuki to break out in a fit of laughter.

"Are they dating?" Reina whispered as she wrapped her arm around Kumiko's, eyeing Natsuki and Hazuki.

"Yeah, but I don't think they know it yet."

* * *

The movie ended a little under two hours later, leaving four of the five girls slack-jawed and more than a little confused.

"I think I'm gonna stand outside and think about stuff for a little while," Hazuki said blankly. Natsuki and Midori nodded in agreement. "That . . . really wasn't what I was expecting."

"Me neither," Midori added. Natsuki shrugged.

"I'd seen it a few times," she said, nonchalant. "Still weird, though."

"I suppose that means I should be taking my leave, too," Reina said once the three of them had left, starting to gather her things.

"No, it's, uh, it's okay! You can stay for a little while longer." Kumiko rested on her shoulder, stretching out her legs now that she and Reina had the couch to themselves. "I didn't really have a chance to say it, but this was a really nice gift." Holding the little pebble in her palm, she smiled. "You're a sentimental dork, y'know that?"

"I do." Reina held Kumiko's face, pulling her in, hypnotic as ever. "I'm also pretentious-" she kissed her, knocking the Tuba-kun hat off kilter "-and spontaneous-" they kissed again, lips crashing together clumsily "-and very, very in love."

"Reina," Kumiko breathed, and neither of them really noticed when the television shut itself off, when the day turned to night and they fell asleep entangled on the couch, feeling so wonderfully _right_ together.

* * *

 **a/n:** those of you who follow me on twitter probably know who i was referencing with the opossum bit


End file.
